The witnesses aren't talking, for they are the mute inhabitants of the shop: Clothilde, a headless dressmaker's dummy; Bruno, the stuffed German shepherd; and Edwin, the little boy mannequin with ornate iron shoes. 

Among the suspects are Cara Ingalls, a socialite business tycoon; Charlie the junkman, who had once been the victim's lover…and a group of high-powered real estate speculators, each with his own reason for closing the curio shops of San Francisco's Salem Street, and each seemingly willing to twist and break the law to get what he wants.

 Patronized and discouraged by the homicide lieutenant in charge of the case, Sharon is determined to find the facts behind the death of the shopkeeper, her employers' client. And she is to discover that neither antiques nor people are exactly what they seem.

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